Integrity Commission's start delayed

The troubled Tasmanian Integrity Commission will not be operational until October, three months later than anticipated, the state government says.

During budget estimates questions on Monday, Attorney-General
Lara Giddings
said the government was yet to appoint a chief commissioner or board members to the commission, which was supposed to begin work this week.

Greens MP Kim Booth said the government should have been transparent about the late start.

"It may be that these delays are quite understandable... however that does not excuse the failure to update the community on progress, or the lack of it," Mr Booth said on Monday.

"Come July, people would realise that the Integrity Commission wasn't up and running, and waiting for people to start to ask questions is not in the spirit of greater government transparency and accountability."

When the government announced Western Australian police commissioner Barbara Etter as the Integrity Commission's chief executive earlier this month, the opposition claimed it had not been properly consulted.

The commission was created by an Act of Parliament in 2009, after Tasmania was rocked by a series of scandals involving its police commissioner.

Former commissioner Jack Johnston was stood down in 2008 after he was charged with disclosing official secrets. The charges have since been overturned in the High Court.

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Richard McCreadie was stood aside as a replacement candidate after the Director of Public Prosecutions advised Premier David Bartlett there was a legal impediment that meant he should not be appointed. No charges were ever laid.